WoW Forever Stress Test: 19 October Dates, Times & Character Wipe
Blizzard will run a WoW Forever Stress Test on 19 October 2026, taking the beta offline first and then opening the game on the regional hardware it will use at launch. Anyone with a WoW account can join, with no active subscription needed. Everything made during the test is deleted afterwards.
Start times
| Region | Start |
|---|---|
| EU | 19:00 CEST (18:00 UK time) on 19 October |
| Americas and Oceania | 2:00 p.m. PDT on 19 October |
| Taipei | 5:00 a.m. on 20 October |
| Korea | 6:00 a.m. on 20 October |
What happens
- The WoW Forever beta goes offline first.
- WoW Forever then opens on production realms for a few hours.
- When the test ends, Blizzard re-opens the beta.
Blizzard asks players to make a character, do a few quests, trade items, chat and group up, to help find problems that would otherwise appear on launch day.
Everything is wiped
Blizzard states that all characters made during the Stress Test are deleted afterwards. In its words, this is a complete wipe: names and everything else are removed. Don’t spend time on a character you want to keep.
Why it matters
Launch is planned for 4 November 2026. This is the first public test on the hardware that will run the live game. See our release date and beta schedule and beta now live posts for the wider timeline.
Sources: WoW Forever Stress Test October 19 (Blizzard forums, 15 October 2026).
